Finally Back
by ShinyMagikarp
Summary: Natsu finally comes back after a mission that took much longer than expected. What is the first thing he does? Gives Lucy a present - Natsu style. His thoughtless actions stirs up different emotions, both wanted and unwanted ones. What will this lead to? Will the dense Dragon Slayer have to use brains and not brawn to solve things for once? That could get an interesting outcome...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is my first ever fanfic, so don't have too high expectations, I'm still a newbie at this. Please leave reviews; tell me if you like it or leave some constructive criticism... write whatever you want, I'll appreciate it all! By the way, English is not my native language, I've only learned it through school and media, so I might be using the wrong words, or building up the sentences wrong... if you notice something like that, and it just really irks you, then please leave a review on it as well, and I'll try to fix it and never do it again. You can of course also favourite, follow and all that (if you like the story). I don't know yet how many more chapters there will be, probably one or two more. I've already written pretty much further, it will probably be done soon (hopefully).

****So I hope you'll enjoy the story! :D

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**Finally Back**

By the outskirts of town, an all too familiar salmon-haired mage wearing an all too familiar grin walked happily towards the centre of Magnolia, accompanied by is blue Exceed. As they emerged from the woods and saw the city lighting up the ever so dark night, the fire mage pumped his fist in the air triumphantly, his trademark grin never faltering.

"Yosh! We're finally back!"

"Aye!"

The blue Exceed joined in on the celebration of finally coming home, flying around his friend in happy circles, a huge grin plastering his face as well.

They were both overjoyed of being back. They had picked a fairly easy job that would only last a couple of days... at least they thought it would. The request was for them to be sure that a precious heirloom, not to mention a mighty valuable one, wasn't stolen while showcased to the people of Crocus Town.

There was a rumour going about a gang of thieves that would be after the heirloom, but nothing Natsu couldn't handle. Just toast'em up nice and good with some fire, and they would be scurrying away frantically, aiming to get as far away from the crazy ass 'monster' as they could, as well as locating the closest source of water to extinguish their flaring behinds.

Natsu was honestly more worried about trying _not_ to destroy half of the town in the process, not to mention trying not to destroy the freakishly expensive and fragile looking heirloom he was _supposed_ to protect.

The Fire Mage and the blue Exceed therefore got caught off guard when the gang they thought would be a piece of cake turned out to be mages recently kicked out of a guild. And pretty damn capable ones at that.

They practically wept the floor with Natsu's face, and Happy; although he himself is convinced that he is the strongest one in the guild who is just so kind as to let the others have the spotlight, was knocked out cold after one single punch, no magic involved in adding power to the punch whatsoever. Natsu and Happy therefore ended up having to chase the thieves from town to town after they woke up from their... ehmmm... _'slumber'_.

And that's why the Salamander and the Exceed now; FOUR weeks later, finally found their way back home, and why they are more than a little happy to be back. Natsu had already intertwined his hands promptly behind his head and begun his whining circus.

"Maaaan, all that work and only 50,000 jewels!"

The Salamander didn't really care about jewels all that much, as long as he and Happy had the most essential – which usually consisted of fish, meat and fire – they were more than pleased. '_Not nearly as bad as Lucy', _Natsu thought to himself and couldn't hold back a chuckle at the thought of his rent obsessed friend.

Natsu and Happy were glad that they never have had to worry about things like rent, even more so after their seven years of absence, when he and Happy witnessed the ghostly faces of the people in the guild when they heard the amount of jewels they owed in rent, while he and Happy only had to worry about food. They did, however, complain more than most of the others in the guild, but that is only to be expected from the duo. Food is like life itself to those two.

* * *

They had both been – considering how lively they usually are – surprisingly silent throughout their trip back, the toll of the past few weeks getting the best of them. But the city and the thought of his precious people had the same effect on Natsu as a massive bonfire would; he was all fired up!

He couldn't believe how much he had missed his friends – no_,_ _family_ – the past four weeks. He missed Cana's drinking, Elfman going on about manliness, Jet and Droy sticking to Levy like glue (with an ever so slightly jealous Gajeel watching the scene along with his Exceed.) Hell, he even missed that cold underpants-bastard Gray.

But both the Salamander and the Exceed had that one person that they missed more than everyone else, the person that made them even happier to be home, if that was even possible. Happy had caught a fish for his special one, and held a slight hope of her actually accepting it this time.

Said Exceed had not eaten a fish in hours, he would not in a million years eat Carle's fish! Adding that to the time they had spent walking all the way back to Magnolia (because someone was just too damn stubborn to take the train!), the flying cat ceased his celebration and instead settled to sleep on his teammate's head. Natsu, not having the heart to wake the cat up, ceased his celebration as well and walked silently the remains of the journey back to their house out in the woods of Magnolia.

* * *

After he had settled Happy and himself in bed, Natsu; instead of shutting his eyes and being taken away to the land of dreams, laid flat on his back, his hands tucked behind his head staring up at the ceiling intently, minute after minute passing by.

In all honesty, he was too damn excited about being back to be able to even _think _about sleep at the moment. He glanced down at his blue Exceed and best friend, a small smile forming on his lips as the cat started mumbling something about fish in his sleep. _'Happy had brought a fish back for Charle'_. As that thought yet again struck him, he cursed under his breath, regretting more and more that he had not brought anything back for his special one; the one that had occupied his mind most of the trip back home, as well as during his and Happy's little game of cat and mouse with the thieves.

Happy had been slightly curious as to why Natsu had been so overly clumsy in their pursuit. Natsu had only waved him off, telling the Exceed that it was the after effects of their train rides. It might have been a factor, since they took way too many trains and other moving transports for Natsu's liking, but he himself knew that it wasn't entirely the truth. It could not be a coincidence that every single time he tripped over a stone or a log, his mind had in the moments before his fall travelled to his blonde teammate, thinking of how she must miss him; imagining her sulking, head slumped over the bar. And every single time he fell (he couldn't keep count after he hit double digits) it always hurt, but never on his leg, or arms, or head. No, he always felt a tiny sting to his heart, feelings of guilt, sadness and other emotions he couldn't quite put a finger on sticking to his chest.

Yes, the Salamander severely regretted not bringing a present back home for her. He regretted lots of things. He regretted not whining a little bit more when she wouldn't go on the mission with them. He regretted not asking her to come along one more time before they left. He regretted thinking that it wasn't such a big deal, since they would be back after a couple of days anyway. But most of all, he regretted not bringing her back any present. He didn't have anything he could give her that would show her how much he had thought of her.

Then it struck him like Laxus' lightning had done oh so many times. A proud grin decorated his face as he now had the best present in store for his special one. _'Way__better than a fish' _Natsu thought proudly to himself as he jumped out of bed to execute his plan.

* * *

At an apartment in the centre of Magnolia, a blonde celestial mage opened her eyes hazily as sunlight made its way through her bedroom window. The sky was always clear in Magnolia, except for the times Juvia got jealous when girls got a little too upfront with Gray for her taste. Talking to the Ice Mage usually was enough for her to make assumptions that they loved him. Everyone loves Gray-sama! (You had to go through tougher measures to make Juvia jealous enough to make it rain though. That only happened rarely, she has gotten surprisingly good at controlling it.)

Heck, even Lucy has been accused of being in love with the Ice Mage on several occasions. She is Juvia's _'rival in love' _as the Water Mage herself would put it. The thought of being with someone who couldn't walk around for more than maybe a minute before his garments were disposed of, did not really appeal that much to the Stellar Mage.

Although, when she thought about it, everyone in the guild seemed to have their quirks, and frequently stripping surprisingly enough seemed better than a lot of the other habits in the guild. And she had to admit that his body was more than fit enough to be displayed, so she didn't really mind it that much. She has even stolen a glance or two at the well-built body of the Ice Mage, but she would never in a million years mention that to Juvia. That would be the same as signing your own death certificate.

The Stellar Mage sat herself up in the bed, stretching out her stiff limbs. Lately, she had taken on numerous simple jobs to earn up the money for the rent that had to be paid at the end of the month. The jobs she chose were not really that tiring at all, they would never leave her body as tired and stiff as it was now, but she had gone on these jobs continuously, only coming back to the guild, picking out another job, taking a shower, changing some clothes and then leaving again right away.

She purposely picked out jobs that never lasted more than two days at maximum, so that if a certain Mage would finally decide to get his ass back here, she would know quickly after his home-coming so she could kick his ass and scold him for being gone _way _longer than he said he would… And then she would hug him like there was no tomorrow, because damn, had she missed him. She couldn't bear the thought of her leaving on a weeklong mission and then coming back only to find out that he has already been back for days. Most of all she wanted to pull a Nab and never leave to do a job so she could be here when he came back, but the rent does not pay itself, now does it?

So that is why her body now feels like it had been tossed and turned like the time she was controlled by at Tenrou Island. And trying to stretch was certainly not a good idea, as instead of pleasure and relaxation of the tense muscles, she felt a surge of pain throughout her body; from her fingertips to the tip of her toes. She winced at the sudden pain, cursing herself for thinking that it was a good idea to stretch in the first place.

'_A good warm bath with some soothing oils will definitely relax my tense muscles' _the Stellar Mage mused to herself and braced her arms on the bed to lift herself up. When a dissatisfied grunt then sounded from underneath her right hand, and she indeed felt that the texture of what she had so forcefully planted her hand on was not the texture of her sheets at all, her recent plans all went through her head and out the window, as she instead directed her attention to the source of the sound.

She turned her head around slowly to see her hand planted on top of a humans' face. But this was not just any human, oh no, this was a well-known face to Lucy, even now when her hand covered most of it. If she hadn't recognized his face, the salmon hair would have given him away.

"I've been gone for four weeks, and this is the welcoming I get!?" Natsu managed to muffle out from underneath her hand.

Lucy could only stare dumbfounded at the mage in her bed; completely awestruck by the situation at hand, not sure if she was happy, angry, surprised or embarrassed. Likely, she was all of the above. She just kept on staring and staring, her jaw dropping further and further.

"I would at least appreciate it if you would get your hand off of my face; it's not really the way I prefer to wake up."

Natsu's grunts of dismay seemed to finally reach the blonde's ears as she after an awkwardly long time finally lifted her hand off of the Fire Mage's face. Natsu let out a big overly-dramatic sigh of relief as if he had just gotten loose from one of Bob's chokingly tight hugs. He then sat himself up in Lucy's bed, his lips tugging upward to create one of his heart-warming grins, the kind that Lucy had missed so damn much the last couple of weeks.

"Morning Luce," Natsu said, his smile never faltering.

These actions tipped Lucy's emotions over the edge. The sight of him again became too much for the Stellar Mage. Natsu fell right back down on the bed again with a soft thud as he was practically attacked by the blonde in front of him when she brought him into a bone-shattering hug.

"C-can't breathe," Natsu choked out, and he could have sworn that his face was turning blue from the lack of oxygen. Lucy let go with world record speed after hearing his barely audible and desperate voice begging for mercy.

"I-I'm sorry," Lucy stuttered, her recent actions causing a slight blush to paint her cheeks.

She watched as her teammate gasped for some well-needed air, a soft smile covering her lips. As his breathing once again had turned back to normal and his attention was back to her, she continued to speak.

"You know, I'm really happy that you're finally back and all, but…"

She took a pause to give him a glare that practically pierced his soul, a dark aura surrounding her, resulting in a rather loud gulp coming from the victim of her vicious stare.

"Why the hell did you decide to bunk in _my _bed!? Huh!?"

Natsu shook his head violently while waving his hands desperately in front of him and backing away as far as he possibly could, until his back was pressed firmly against the wall of the bed. He tried to avoid Lucy's wrath with all his might. It was something that he had experienced a few times before, and although it can't measure up with Erza's wrath (nothing really can) it was still pretty damn scary.

"I-I-I was j-just, uhmmm.. I-I m-mean.." Natsu's tongue severely failed him in his pursuit for the right words, ending in him getting completely tongue-tied. He decided to set his eyes anywhere else than at the piercing eyes of his teammate, so he decided to advert his gaze down at the sheets which he were awkwardly fidgeting with. Not looking at the blonde before him had a surprisingly good effect on Natsu as he was finally able to speak somehow normally again.

"W-well, I came back home last night, and as always Happy had brought a fish back for Charle.."

"What does that have to do with you ending up in _my_ bed!?" Lucy had cut him off in mid-sentence, too damn impatient to wait for him to make a novel out of the situation.

"Hmmm, well you know, he brought her a present, right? Just because he had missed her a lot, and I guess he kinda wanted to let her know that she's been on his mind the whole trip, and that he would never forget her, even when separated for a long time.. That's the meaning of a present, right? To let people know you care?"

After a few awkward seconds of no response, Natsu glanced up at the Mage before him, a look in his eyes telling her that this was no rhetorical question, like she had obviously thought it was.

"Yeah, I guess that is the purpose of a gift… but I still don't see what any of this has to do with you deciding that sleeping in my bed was such a great idea."

Lucy was starting to grow mighty impatient, and the Fire Mage had picked up on the vibe, but he still had a difficult time finding the words. He was usually one to just speak without thinking over what is really coming out of his mouth. His thoughtless actions often resulted in punch and kicks from various guild members, and after already receiving a hand in his face (although not on purpose), he did not really feel like becoming a punching bag at the moment. He therefore desperately tried to arrange his words as best he could, resulting in a long and awkward silence.

"..Well?"

"Uhmm, well basically what I'm saying is that I wanted _you _to know that I've missed you a lot, that I've been thinking about you the whole trip, and that I would never forget you; even though we would be separated for a long time."

Natsu once again found the sheets interesting as his eyes darted back down after seeing Lucy's reaction to his words. He had said something wrong, hadn't he? Well, god dammit.

The Salamander closed his eyes and waited for whatever punishment that would come next. Lucy just stared dumbfounded at the Fire Mage before her. What was this behaviour all of a sudden? Had he gotten a hit to the head while fighting the thieves, messing up his brain even more than it already was? It had to be something like that, because this sounded awfully a lot like some kind of confession, at least to her ears. Then again, it could only be him caring about a nakama, he did love everyone in the guild like a family, and she could picture him saying that to many of the other members in the guild without it sounding weird in any kind of way.

But still, he had not went to any of the other guild member's beds. He was right here, which means that she had a special place in his heart…? Or was it just her imagination running wild? Lucy gripped her head in frustration as her head pounded from over-thinking. After not getting any kind of response in quite a while, the tension in the room got too damn high for Natsu to bear, so he bravely decided to speak up yet again.

"I know this isn't really a present at all, you probably don't even appreciate it. If anything, you're thinking that it's irritating and me invading you privacy… I know as much." Natsu's voice had a sad tune to it as he spoke those words.

"But I couldn't get any sleep because I felt bad about not getting you a nice gift like Happy had done for Charle, and at the time, I couldn't come up with anything better than this… Also, your bed is really comfy." As he spoke those words, he finally got the courage to lift his head up as he met her with another one of those heart-warming grins of his. Lucy couldn't help but to feel bad for him.

She had never told Natsu this, nor will she ever tell him, but she actually liked the fact that he broke into her apartment at any hour he found suiting, eating all her food at day, and sneaking into her bed at night. She would never in a million years tell him that she had actually missed his warmth at night these past few weeks, so much that she had to replace it with numerous blankets and even a small teddy bear; not so much for the warmth, but rather to have something to hug and snuggle close to at night.

The funny thing is that she never had a problem with the cold before; it was honestly the opposite way. Before he started to casually bunk in her bed, she would find excessive blankets annoying, and would rather sleep without any, the heat seemingly unbearable to the Celestial Mage. Now, she would almost go as far as to say that she had become dependent of the constant warmth of her hot friend… _NOT _hot appearance-wise; hot body-wise… _NO, not _his body like in his rock-hard abs and strong arms and…

Lucy mentally slapped herself, trying to get her mind back on the right track again. It really didn't help the situation that he was wearing his normal vest, meaning that his toned stomach was out for the world to see. Her mind already being set on 'perverted', resulted in her face becoming red as a tomato as she kept on ogling at her teammate's chest.

"Hey, Luce, are you okay? You're all red. You haven't gotten a cold, have you?" Natsu's worried voice barely reached the blonde's ears, her head too occupied with dirty images of her and her teammate. What did make her react was when she felt the hot hand of her worried teammate graze her forehead carefully. The warm touch that she had missed so much was finally back, and she was bathing in all the wonderful feelings that one touch was able to emit from within her.

With her mind hazed with pleasure, she suddenly found herself acting on her desires. She hated it when she felt herself leaning into his touch. What she hated even more was the fact that she wasn't able to stifle the moan that escaped her mouth.

Natsu, who merely seconds ago was an innocent little Dragon Slayer who simply was worried about his nakama's well-being, had now lost his ability to move, speak, think; to do anything at all, really. He just sat there, as if frozen by Gray's ice magic, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him.

As soon as his hand made contact with her forehead, her expression had turned into one that Natsu found extremely… arousing? Yes, he couldn't explain it any other way. She was making him all hot and bothered, and all he wanted was to lean in and capture her lips with his. He wanted to taste her lips, to inhale her intoxicating scent, and to explore the curves and dips of her body. But he knew that he shouldn't. He couldn't. They were _nakama _for god's sake!

The way she seemed to lean in closer to him didn't really help him in his resolve, as he found it harder and harder to refrain himself from acting on his needs and desires. When he heard a moan escape her plump lips, all coherent thoughts were thrown out the window as he harshly crashed his lips upon hers in a fierce kiss filled to the edge with desire, stealing the rest of the moans that would come from the blonde later, because he would make sure that the one just heard wasn't the last.

At the sudden feel of texture on her own lips, the blonde mage shot out of her lust-filled daze, only to end up staring dumbfounded at the very object that had sent her into her daze mere moments ago. He was now well on his way in executing the images she recently had in her head, leaving her in no doubt if this was real or not. Sucking and tugging on her lower lip, tongue swiping over her white set of teeth. No, she had no doubts what so ever. All of her dreams, all the dirty things she had imagined doing with the Fire Dragon Slayer up until this day had never felt _this _good.

But when, how and why had all of this suddenly happened? Had God heard her silent prayers that even she herself had a hard time of hearing and accepting? Did something happen, so that all of her thoughts imprint into real life?

The thought of it sent shudders of pleasure down the blonde mage's spine, knowing well that her thoughts had been way more lewd; this – although pretty hot and heavy in itself – seeming like child's-play in comparison. In her perverted mind, they were all sweaty and naked, tangled together in the sheets, his breath hot on her neck as he whispered all the things she needed to hear.

Another shudder surged through her body as she shut her eyes close and easily submitted to his ministrations. Who in their right mind would want to stop this kind of pleasure? She moaned loudly into his mouth; opening her own both to allow him access into her mouth, as well as being able to get a taste of his. A low growl emitted from the Dragon Slayer's throat as he suddenly felt her answering to his needs, and with the reflexes of a dragon, he grew bolder in his movements. He eagerly kissed her back even more fiercely, efficiently knocking her down on the mattress at the same time. His hands started exploring, feeling the dips and curves of her petite body; from her stomach, down her hips and thighs and up again.

Her hands had found their way to his hair, grabbing harshly onto his soft pink locks, as if it was the last string of her sanity. She wrapped her long, creamy legs around his hips, aching for as much proximity to the Dragon Slayer as she could possibly get. He answered by putting his strong arms around her back and efficiently pulling her close to him, her body almost melting into his. Their lips parted; the Stellar Mage getting some well needed air. Natsu though, did not even hesitate for a second, as he was now attacking her neck with hot open-mouthed kisses, occasionally sucking and nibbling on her skin.

Natsu slowly made his way down her neck, satisfied by the sets of moans and sighs coming from the mage underneath him. He grunted in frustration though, when he could no longer go any further, as unnecessary fabric blocked his path. The Salamander stared at the set of clothing in frustration, contemplating if he should just rip the whole thing off. Knowing the woman squirming beneath him, ruining her clothing was not a good idea. Sure, she wouldn't mind now, but as soon as she got down from her high, she would yell at him like there was no tomorrow. Instead, he settled for creeping his hands under her shirt, longing to feel the sensation of her skin.

"N-natsu!" The voice of the Stellar Mage was coated with pleasure, as she wasn't even sure herself if her yelling his name was a plead to stop or an encouragement to continue. The Fire Mage obviously took it as the latter, as if her actions only seemed to arouse him even further, again capturing her lips with his in another fierce kiss. She felt his hands slowly finding their way underneath her pink-lace bra, and suddenly realized that there was no way back now, oddly enough liking the thought of it. She wanted this _so_ bad.

What the two mages heard next left them staring wide-eyed at each other, lips still connected.

"Natsuuuuu~"

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**A/N: **Was it good? Horrible? Aren't you even reading this because you stopped reading this after the first excruciating sentence? Please tell me what you thought, everything helps! ^^ Oh, and tell me if this was rated wrong, I just rated it T because they didn't go _that_ far, atleast in my opinion... but if you feel it's rated too low, tell me, I'll change it. I'll say it again: first fanfic, new to it all, so I'm not really sure how to rate yet. Next chapter will be up when I'm done with it, I can't give you any specific time, but I'll try to make it quick! :) (Having these A/N's here will be very awkward if no one reads my story - just had to get that out of my system)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Next part is up! And, wow, I've got to thank everyone who reviewed, favourited, followed and read my story! Especially the reviews. All of you were so positive to my fic, and it felt so great reading all the reviews, so thank you, really! You guys made my first experience of writing fanfics amazing :) So please keep reviewing, favouriting, following, I _really _appreciate it!**

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"Natsuuuuu~"

Upon hearing the strangely familiar voice, the two mages shot their eyes up, staring wide-eyed at each other, one set of lips still awkwardly smacked upon the other. As if Natsu had suddenly put the bed on fire, they both shot up from their position, Natsu scurrying to the window.

"O-oi! H-happy, up here!" the Fire Mage yelled hoarsely, trying as well as he possibly could to hide his embarrassment by putting on one of his famous grins while waving at the cat beneath him. Said cat flew straight at his face, hugging the mage while crying his eyes out.

"I remember falling asleep on our trip back, and when I woke up I was in bed, but then I couldn't find you!" the Exceed started, sobbing all the while. Natsu only listened carefully while softly patting the head of his friend. He knew how emotionally fragile this cat could be, but he only enjoyed it. It almost made him feel like a father, a role he oddly enough found that he liked. "At first, I had no idea what to do, but then I figured out that you would probably be at Lucy's, because you were talking about how you wanted to visit her the entire the trip back!"

A tinge of red covered the blonde mage's face at the words of the Exceed. She couldn't help but to feel special from the thoughtless actions of her best friend; or whatever the two were now. After what had just happened, she had no clue anymore. But hearing how much he had thought of her from now both himself and his companion, made her feel like what just occurred less than a minute ago maybe meant a lot more to him than she could fathom.

"So I hurried over here right away… Wait, hey! Have you two been having a pillow fight without me or something!? Your hair and clothes are all messy! No fair!" the Exceed stated, pointing an accusing paw at the two mages; who by now had turned beet red from the tip of their toes to the top of their head, steam rushing out of their ears.

"Y-yeah, we did! S-sorry! I-if we had known that you would c-come, we would have waited for you! H-honestly!" The Fire Mage hastily spluttered out as he frantically waved his hands in front of him. Lucy could do nothing but to follow Natsu's lead, mimicking his movements while sounding in with a squeaky "Y-yeah!"

Despite the two raging sets of red covering each of the mage's faces, they somehow seemed to be able to convince the dense cat, seeing as he didn't pry any further. Instead, he settled for sulking in a corner of the blonde mage's room, sadly mumbling something incoherent. Even with his heightened senses, the Dragon Slayer could only pick up a few things here and there… "Stupid Lucy and Natsu"… "Pillow-fighting skills"… "Kick their asses"

After calming down a little and finding his composure, Natsu continued.

"But Happy, why did you even come here? You could have just gone back to bed; I probably would've been back soon anyway." At those words, the blue Exceed turned and looked at his teammate with wide eyes.

"I had a really bad dream Natsu," he started, a look of horror plastering his face at the mere thought of it. Natsu looked at his companion understandingly. This wasn't the first time that the cat had been acting like this.

"It started as any other dream, I was happily eating this really tasty fish, but suddenly.." The cat stopped for a dramatic pause, piercing his two friends with a deadly stare. "I wasn't eating the fish; it was eating me! It was horrible! Horrible I tell you!" Again, the Exceed flew at the face of his friend, sobbing loudly, a chuckle sounding from Natsu as he softly stroked the cat's blue fur, whispering soothing words to his ear.

Lucy however, mentally face-palmed at the actions of the cat as she heard said cat crying out something about never eating fish again between his loud sobs. Pfft, yeah right, the blonde mused to herself. His whole damn world revolves around fish, as if he would ever be able to survive without it. Said Exceed then interrupted her train of thought, his 'horrid' nightmare now apparently history.

"Wow, Lucy, you must have really gone all out in your pillow fight!" The Exceed flew right up to the blonde mage's face and stared at her with wide, wondering eyes.

"What do you mean pill… Ouch!" the blonde mage stopped in mid-sentence as she felt someone stomp harshly on top of her foot. She then snapped her head around to search for the culprit. That is when her chocolate-brown eyes connected with a stern pair of onyx ones, and at the subtle shake of his head, she came to the sudden realization that she had just been mere moments from revealing what they truly had been doing before the cat had been so impolite to interrupt their moment.

"Y-yeah, of course! The pillow fight..! Hehe, that was one heck of a fight!"

"It must have been, your face is all red and you look really messy!" the blue cat snickered and pointed his right paw at her face; the other covering his mouth as to not let his mocking laughs escape. Lucy, who in any other situation would have submitted to her anger and Lucy-kicked the damn cat way outside Magnolia, instead settled for turning even redder; her face now competing with the colour of Erza's hair. It didn't help that her perverted mind had now decided it to be a perfect time to replay her recent incident with Natsu.

Said mage then turned his face towards her revealing a dark and dirty smirk that only the Fire Dragon Slayer would be able to pull. The blonde mage visibly shuddered at the sight, his smirk along with his dark onyx eyes showing her his not so innocent intentions. What strangely enough irked her more than she would like to admit was the fact that he did not seem affected by the situation at hand.

His face bared the same colour it always does, and he showed no signs of either embarrassment or nervousness. How the heck could he be so calm about this!? She prepared herself for the worst as the Dragon Slayer slowly opened his mouth to speak, his expression telling her that this could not be any good.

"Yeah, what a pillow fight, we should do it more often… like tonight. And tomorrow night. And the night after that." The Dragon Slayer's smirk only grew bigger and bigger at every word he uttered and the Stellar Mage's face in turn grew redder and redder at every word that reached her ear.

"Oh, and we should do it everywhere as well, not just in your apartment. On the streets, in the Guild, in front of Gray."

The Salamander was having the time of his life making his teammate all flustered. He loved watching her, how her eyes were wide like two giant plates. How her face was now so red that he was astonished of the fact that she had not yet fainted, since it seemed like all of the blood in her body had gone up to her head.

He found her incredibly cute, the way she just stood there, frozen like a statue, and the way it seemed like steam was erupting from her ears. Even the way she desperately tried to recover, pushing the two out her window while spluttering out incoherent sentences; even that was incredibly cute to the Fire Mage. '_She is just so darn cute' _he thought with a smile as he was not so gently pushed out of the Stellar Mage's apartment.

* * *

As the blonde mage approached the Guild, she once again asked herself _why _she had decided to go to the Guild today after all. Not only was it now, after they had returned from Tenrou, on the top of a giant hill, miles away from the centre of Magnolia where her apartment was so conveniently located. No, it now also contained the one person she would really like to avoid at the moment. A certain pink-haired, fire-breathing idiot… An idiot who had her pinned to her bed just a couple of hours ago, kissing her senseless.

She mentally slapped herself, stopping her mind from where it was going. She would just walk through those doors like nothing had happened, and soon they would be back to their normal self. Yes, this would definitely work out; he's probably already forgotten about it anyway, that dense bastard. To him, this was all most likely just fun and games, nothing serious, just showing affection for his _nakama. _

To the blonde's major irritation, the word left a bad taste in her mouth. Nakama… How could she want to be just a _nakama_ to someone who unknowingly drove her mind crazy? How could she be just a nakama to someone after she had felt his burning touch, his hot tongue, not to mention his rock hard body flush upon her soft and petite one? Oh, this was going to be tough. Why _did _she decide to go to the Guild today?

* * *

His head snapped around for the umpteenth time today as he heard the Guild doors creak open. _This _time it had to be her. It just had to be. Heck, she was the only one from Fairy Tail that wasn't here yet, except for the ones who were out on jobs, but they weren't expected back before tomorrow at soonest. So who else could it possibly be? It _had _to be her.

The Fire Dragon Slayer kept staring at the doors hopefully as they slowly creaked open, waiting for them to reveal the person behind them. At the sight of blonde, he immediately lightened up, getting all giddy and excited.

Levy, Gray, Erza, and a bunch of others had through the course of day asked him if he had seen any signs of Lucy. He had just waved them all off, telling them that he hadn't seen her, and that she would probably show up sooner or later. Happy had received multiple hands to his mouth from the Dragon Slayer, him not wanting anyone to know that he yet again had spent the night at his blonde friend's house. It was not like that was anything new to the Guild members, it was just that Natsu felt like what the two of them had done this time around, was something that Lucy would rather have no one know.

The fact that he had a feeling that Lucy wanted the whole thing forgotten, almost disappointed the Fire Dragon Slayer. He certainly didn't want to forget it, and even if he wanted to, he would never in a million years be able to. All of those feeling, those sensations; _no one _could ever forget those. Having enhanced senses didn't help any either. Experiences like what he had with Lucy only left a bigger imprint on a Dragon Slayer.

Although he didn't show it to anyone, he had been concerned that his actions before had scared Lucy away. The only reason the Salamander could come up with for Lucy's absence from the Guild, was that she was avoiding _him. _Well, Natsu had been gone for weeks now, who knows what could have happened in the meantime. Maybe she's mad at Gray because he had thrown his dirty boxers at her face one too many times… or maybe she had done something really bad, like eating Erza's cake, and therefore she didn't dare to enter the Guild.

Natsu had kept on telling himself all these things, trying to deny the heavy feeling in his gut, telling him that her absence was his fault only. So when he saw the tug of blonde hair at the entrance of the Guild, the heavy feeling all but disappeared, being replaced with a surprisingly bubbly feeling at the sight of his best friend. She probably just took a really long shower, or got devoured in some novel.

A vicious smirk formed on the Dragon Slayer's lips as a plan formed in his head. Since she finally was here, she couldn't be mad at him, right? That means he can have some more fun with her, right? Natsu then graciously slipped away into the shadows, out of his target's sight. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Lucy had been standing at the entrance for quite a while; her head hanged down in shame, afraid that if she would raise her head, her face would show it all. The embarrassment, the uncertainty, even the love. Yes, even the love she deep down always knew she felt towards her pink-haired best friend, but never had the guts to acknowledge.

That is, until earlier mentioned gave her more than a little push with his actions. That made her acknowledge her feelings all too quickly, in turn making her feel like the time she had tried to compete against Cana in a drinking contest, and after a few beers too many had decided to jump up from her chair, probably wanting to show everyone that she wasn't as drunk as they thought she were. Needless to say, all of the beers, alongside her dinner (considering the amount, probably her lunch too) all ended up in a mushy pile on the Guild floor.

Yes, she felt like emptying her stomach due to her sudden discovery. Not because she felt disgusted by the thought of _him, _no, quite the opposite. She felt so strongly about him that the thought of going back to just being friends disgusted her. And she had a feeling that it was exactly what he was planning.

Who knows where that feeling came from. Probably his carefree attitude and the fact that Lucy really, and I mean _really, _had troubles picturing Natsu actually dating someone. She doubted that he even knew what the word meant. Never once had she seen him showing interest in people of the opposite sex, if you count away what happened a couple of hours ago, which she clearly did.

After what must have been an awkwardly long time, Lucy finally built up the courage to lift her face up from the ground and greet the people of the Guild. Of course, she first scanned the room for a pink tug of hair. She scanned the whole Guild, all of the corners she could find, once, twice… but to no avail; she could not find him.

Both relieved and disappointed, she made her way towards the bar, greeting some well-known faces along the way. She lastly greeted Mira when she reached the bar with a small smile, gaining one in return.

"Just a glass of water please"

"Of course, coming right up" Mira then swiftly turned to tend to the order, and after no more than ten seconds she gently placed the glass of water in front of Lucy.

"Thank you so much, Mira-san" Lucy said with a warm smile.

"You're welcome," she smiled back.

Lucy silently started sipping at her water, but after a while when she still felt the presence of the barmaid and S-class mage, she internally gulped and started bracing herself for what was to come. She knew the take-over mage well enough to know about her extreme case of nosiness.

"..So why did you arrive at the Guild so late today? That's not like you.." The question in itself seemed innocent enough, especially when accompanied by the sweet smile of the mage in front of her, but she knew that Mira wouldn't believe in some fake excuse… that doesn't mean one can't try, right?

"Ahhaha, umm.. I j-just… I was just really tired from all the missions, you know? So I ended up sleeping way longer than I usually do." When Mira slowly shook her head with a sad smile, Lucy knew.

The take-over mage of course knew that the reason for her absence wasn't fatigue or anything like that, although it was a pretty good excuse, considering it being made up on the spot. She already knew that this had to do with Natsu. If the coincidence of Lucy being gone the _exact _day Natsu comes back wasn't enough to make Mira realize it, then the behaviour of Natsu definitely did.

He had done his best to cover it up with his goofy grins, but the way his head swung towards the entrance in record speed every time his dragon ears picked up a sound from that direction kind of gave him away big time. The Dragon Slayer also seemed to become nervous and uncomfortable every time someone mentioned Lucy as well, waving his hands desperately in front of him while spluttering out some lame excuse.

"Lucy.." Mira paused to give her friend a caring but stern look "..We both know that you would never have decided to sleep in… not until a certain person was back at least," Her look was slowly turning into a more mischievous one, leaving no doubt as to who it was. Her stare in turn made Lucy blush profusely; giving Mira a groan in response as she let her head fall down on the bar with a small thud.

"Maybe," the Stellar Mage muffled out from the bar. "Where is he anyway? Shouldn't he be at the Guild, picking fights with Gray and whatnot? He couldn't have left on another job already, he just came back.." At this point, she was talking more to herself than to Mira, something she would soon regret she did _out loud_, as Mira yet again opened her mouth to speak.

"How did you know he was back? He only came back today, and you haven't been to the Guild all day. Are you two doing something behind our backs?" Her mischievous grin only seemed to widen for each second that passed, and it certainly pissed Lucy off. Too bad no one could see that, since her embarrassment clearly won the battle over her anger.

"W-what are you t-talking about!" the blonde spluttered out. "I-i… uhmmm, I… I just h-heard it from… Gray! Yeah, that's right! He told me on that Natsu was back on my way over here!" Lucy, despite her tomato red face, beamed at the take-over mage, clearly proud of the lie she was able to produce under such pressure. What happened next efficiently taught her a lesson… don't _ever _lie

"What are you talking about Lucy? Natsu slept over at your place last night, don't you remember, you weirdo? You were having some awesome pillow fight too! You should have seen them when I came by this morning, Mira. They were all messy and Lucy was reeeaally red! I wish I would have been there, I'm so awesome at pillow fights!" The Exceed then turned to show off his skills with an imaginary pillow, smacking it around in the Guild while making his own dramatic sound effects.

Lucy, however, had turned from red to a colour beyond description. What she felt next almost made her fall dead on her chair from embarrassment.

"Hey Luce" His breath was hot on her ear, and he had snaked his arms around her waist, keeping her from scrambling away. Not that she could. She was completely paralyzed in her seat, startled by the sudden proximity of her teammate.

"You're finally here, I almost thought you wouldn't come.." Her heart was throbbing almost painfully in her chest, and she was visibly shuddering at every hot word that left the Dragon Slayers lips.

"What happened? Was out little pillow fight too tiring for you?" Who could have known that this guy was so good at seducing? She was so caught in her own pleasurable trance that she didn't even recognize the look that now most of the Guild members were giving her, all of them momentarily stopping their fighting and drinking to see where this would lead.

"You know, I would like to have another pillow fight some time… like tonight," the Salamander seductively suggested, emphasizing his words by moving his hands to her slim thighs, slowly tracing up towards her skirt.

She had started to lean into his touch, letting her desires take over, but she quickly snapped out of it when she heard a sudden wave of gasps sounding around the Guild. The Stellar Mage shot up like a flash, heading straight for the massive Guild doors, not daring to meet the shocked and awestruck faces of the Guild members. Natsu of course followed suit, a mischievous smirk tugging at his lips. The minute that the two mages had left the Guild, it erupted into heated discussions, prediction; hell, even bets were made.

* * *

Lucy darted straight for her apartment, not even bothering to answer to the warnings of the regular sailors in the canal. The moment she shut her door, she was reduced to a messy pile of limbs on the floor, tears freely flowing.

It wasn't tears of sadness, no; her tears were simply tears of pure frustration. What exactly did he want to accomplish by this? Was he just having some fun with her? Did he enjoy playing with her in such a way? The questions in her head became so heavy that she felt like it would explode any minute, a nasty headache creeping in both due to the amount of questions swirling around in her head, as well as her lack of water from crying her eyes out.

Natsu had slowly followed her back to her apartment, no way was he finished having fun with his favourite blonde mage. His smirk had not faltered the least from when he left the Guild. That is, until his dragon senses picked up quiet sobs sounding from her apartment, along with the salty smell of tears.

Oh god. He had gone way too far, hadn't he? Why didn't he let her have her space? He should have understood that he shouldn't have bothered her further after she _almost didn't show up at the Guild. _The Salamander only got too damn excited when he finally saw her today, he just couldn't help himself. Damn. He cursed under his breath for his thoughtless actions.

* * *

A soft knock on the door snapped Lucy out of her non-stop crying. Oh no, she had a feeling that she knew who this might be. She desperately tried to muffle her sobs with her hands, although she knew that he had already heard her, what with his keen senses. Another knock sounded through the door.

"Luce," Natsu softly whispered. The sound of his caring voice almost made her break out in another series of sobs. Why did he have to sound so caring? It only made her think, _hope, _that his actions weren't all play, that maybe he held some feelings for her after all. False hope is never good; it's always so difficult to cope with when it's brutally crushed.

"Luce, I know you're in there. Please open." He held the most adorable pleading voice, and she would have opened the door in a flash if her resolve to _not _open it had only been a tiny bit weaker.

"Please Luce, just please open. I'm sorry. I'm _so_, so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. You know I care about you, so please open, so we can talk. I-i…" _I love you. _He wanted to say it out loud so badly. If only she knew just how much her crying pained him, even more so when he knew that he was the source of her tears.

But the words failed him, and he cursed under his breath for being such a coward. Why did he find it so complete and utterly impossible to form those three, little words? He was certain that they were true to the meaning; even more so after what happened the other day. So it wasn't a lie… then why did his mouth dry out completely every time he opened his mouth to speak? Why did it feel like someone had clogged something down his throat, efficiently stopping the few words he wanted to let out?

Frustration taking overhand, he instead started knocking on the door with his head; the softer thuds of his right knuckle being replaced with the loud bangs of his spiky, salmon-haired head. He continued with this until he got assaulted by an overwhelming headache, every bang he made on the door now resounding in his head with loud thuds. Therefore, he settled with resting his head against the door, his strong arms braced on the door frame.

Lucy's sobs only grew louder as his knocking became more and more desperate, now not caring a bit if he heard her anymore. Then, as suddenly as it was there, the sound of knocking disappeared, and in Lucy's mind, Natsu had disappeared with it. Little did she know that the Dragon Slayer stood there on the other side of her door, leaning desperately against it, as if it would break by the weight of his body.

And there the two stayed. Minute after minute they stayed, frozen in place, as if time itself had stopped along with the progress of their relationship. The one inside thought the one outside had left, leaving her with an empty void she cursed, knowing she herself had asked for it, but still hating the feelings it brought. As for the one outside; he thought the one inside had fallen asleep, since even his keen senses weren't able to pick up any sounds on the other side of the door.

Feeling tired throughout his whole body, the Fire Mage let his body slide down the door, leaving him looking much like the mage on the other side, a crumpled pile of limbs. He felt like he should leave, but he weren't able to move his body away from the door, it feeling like the last thing that bound the two mages together. If he left, he felt like he would leave it all… Their friendship, their relationship, what could have been.

So he simply sat there, a messy pile on the ground; only a single door separating him from the one he cared about the most. The one he loved. Just a single door, still it felt like the largest barrier he had ever encountered, one that felt impossible to cross. After what felt like an eternity, the Dragon Slayer mustered up the strength to leave, trying to convince himself that things would work out, that leaving this door would not mean leaving _her._ She needed some space, he knew, and although it pained him greatly, he would give it to her.

He weakly got up, his usually inhumane strength nowhere to be found, as he actually struggled to even get to his feet. Before he turned to leave, he leaned in closely to the door, telling her a last couple of words in a barely audible whisper that even someone with dragon senses would have difficulty in hearing.

"I'm sorry Luce. I really am… I-I" Again, he struggled to get out his words, but he was determined this time, and he finally managed to force the words out.  
"_I love you."_ His voice was a soft whisper, filled to the brim with sadness. If he would have spoken in a louder voice, he was certain that his voice would've cracked at each word he uttered.

Reluctantly he slowly turned his back against the wall, arms heavy by his side as he slowly, _very _slowly, dragged his feet in the direction of his house.

He had never been one to cry, tears were something rarely seen staining the Dragon Slayer's face. Honestly, he could only remember crying three times throughout his life.

When Igneel had disappeared, when he thought Lisanna had died, and lastly during the S-class exams when he fought Gildarts. The latter was caused by fear and not sadness, so it didn't really count either. But various citizens had today witnessed this rare sight, as a certain Dragon Slayer slumped one foot in front of the other through town, a few tears slowly making its way down his cheeks.

Back at the house of a blonde Celestial Mage, his three words had reached her ears, but she had unfortunately been half asleep at the time, stuck between dream and reality, and therefore not sure as to which of the worlds his words had come from. She slowly fell into a deep sleep, dreams of a certain mage filling her mind, marks from her recent tears still visible on her soft cheeks.

* * *

**A/N; Between the time I posted the first chapter and the time I posted this, the amount of words written by me has been terribly low, sorry! In the end here, I had major difficulty writing, and I'm not really sure if I like it or not, honestly... but tell me what you thought of it! Feel free to be constructive as well as complimentary, and you can also tell me where you want the story to go from here, you know, if you have any ideas or anything! (I love reviews :D). I'll try to be more effective now, so I can update quickly! Hope you enjoyed it, by the way :) **


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